Return to Transcripts main page
Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
ISIS Claims Responsibility for Texas Shooting; Voters Asked: Is Hillary Trustworthy?; Tech CEO Dies After Treadmill Mishap; Hero Mom Saves Kids. Aired 8:30-9:00p ET.
Aired May 05, 2015 - 20:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:00:00]
ANDERSON COOPER, AC 360 HOST: Good evening. Thanks for joining us. We begin tonight with breaking news. And a troubling question, was the attack at that Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas the first ISIS attack in America. We got new information on that tonight about possible contacts one of the terrorists, Elton Simpson, may have had with an ISIS recruit.
Now, ISIS has claimed credit for the attack which the White House they called an attempted act of terrorism but stopped short of saying ISIS ordered him. The investigation is active to say the least. Our justice correspondent Pamela Brown has the latest.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: CNN has learned one of the gunmen Elton Simpson directed a message on Twitter to this account believed to belong to an American member of Al-Qaeda in Somalia calling attention to the plan prophet Muhammad cartoon event in the Dallas suburbs less than two weeks before the attack.
On April 23rd, Simpson tweeted to the Somali jihadi about the controversial event. "When will they ever learn?" That same jihadi tweeted out about the event referencing the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris. "It's time for brothers in the U.S. to do their part."
It was just one of several Twitter connections CNN has found that Simpson had online which jihadis have received. Investigators now trying to determine if Simpson was trying to get the jihadis' attention or was actively plotting with them. A top FBI officials saying, the use of social media by terrorist is a daunting challenge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL B STEINBACH, FBI COUNTERTERRORISM DIVISION: It allows like never before for overseas groups to reach into our communities to recruit, to radicalize, as well as to target our citizens. All of the very simple easy to way -- easy to use way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Back on April 10th, in a private Twitter message intercepted by the U.S., CNN is told Simpson discussed with others how to get to Syria. "Bring your passport. If you have $4,000 that's enough to travel with," he wrote. And hours before the attack, Simpson urged his Twitter followers to follow one known British ISIS hacker who one intelligence source called a significant figure in ISIS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Somebody known as a propagandist within ISIS, somebody known for his hacking skills who's targeted the U.S. military in previous hacks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Tonight, we are learning more about the gunman's past. Elton Simpson was captain of his high school basketball team. His former lawyer remembers noticing how religious he seemed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTINA SITTON, FMR. ATTORNEY OF ELTON SIMPSON: He was a very devout Muslim. I did get a sense that he was trying to convert myself and my staff and the people that were working with me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: The second gunman, Nadir Soofi, borne with Pakistani father and American mother attended a prestigious private school in Pakistan. After his parents divorced, he moved the U.S. with his mother and brother where he was popular in school and even played the lead in his high school production of "Bye-bye Birdie".
Tonight, his family is in disbelief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHIRLEY DROMOGOOLE, NADIR SOOFI'S GRANDMOTHER: Whoever he was with, talked him into it.
UNIDENTIFED MALE: That's how you feel about it?
DROMOGOOLE: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: Yes, but...
DROMOGOOLE: There's no other way it would happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOOPER: Pamela Brown joins us now from Phoenix where the gunmen shared an apartment. So what were you learning about how the guard was able to take down this guys armed with assault rifles because my understanding you see that (ph) a handgun and he was under fire.
BROWN: Absolutely. It certainly was not a fair match Anderson and it's really incredible that this officer with the Garland Police Department -- he was a traffic cop. And he was able to kill the two suspects with his work pistol. It was him up against these two suspects in bullet proof vests carrying assault rifles. And within 15 seconds, it was over. The two suspects were dead.
And Anderson, we have learned from officials that that officer -- the traffic officer and a security guard who were in their car station at the entrance were just minutes away from leaving the entrance. So he prevented what one official I spoke to said, a mass massacre there where the event was being held because there were 200 people inside. They would have been walking out and have that -- have those two officers not been there, the gunmen culled have pulled up and created, you know, as we know a much worse situation -- an attack that was not foiled.
We have learned, Anderson, that were in intent of wrecking havoc as we know they have those assault rifles. Also, they had two long guns and four hand guns, we've learned, inside their car.
COOPER: Sounds a definition of calm under fire. Pamela Brown, thank you very much.
Now, to Baltimore with the police commissioner says in an exclusive interview that he was surprised to learn that six of his officers would be charged in the death of Freddie Gray. Police commissioner's also trying to assure the community that change is coming -- a goal shared by the new attorney general, Lureta Lynch. Lynch was in Baltimore today meeting with police officers, city officials, and community leaders, as well as with Freddie Gray's family in a private meeting. She said that what she heard is how people in Baltimore are committed in improving their relationship between the police and the community.
Now in a moment, we're going to hear from a law enforcement officer who said the charges against the Baltimore constitute an abuse of power and are not about justice but about revenge and appealing the mob.
[20:05:07] But first, CNN's Evan Perez sat down today for an exclusive interview with the police commissioner Anthony Batts in his first interview since Grey's death. Take a look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Tell me your reaction when you found out that the state attorney was preparing to bring charges last Friday?
ANTHONY BATTS, BALTIMORE POLICE COMMISSIONER: Well, I found out that the state attorney was going on in what she was going to present probably about 10 minutes before she went on. She gave me a phone call and told me what she was about to do and that she was going on live. She told me what the charges were.
PEREZ: What were your first words out of your mouth when you heard that?
BATTS: I don't want to get into that so much. I'd just say that I was probably surprised, you know, by the information that I heard. Again, my mind started going to what was going to be the response in the community, what's the happen in the community. I went to what's going to happen with my officers.
PEREZ: Did you have an agreement ahead of time that you'd get more noticed? I mean was there -- in previous situations like this, you know, you usually give the police some notice because they want to be able to be prepared for whatever the community reaction is going to be.
BATTS: I had one meeting with the states attorney and her execu7tive team and executive staff. And we sat down. She shared with me that she was concerned about the amount of information that was going down and she wanted to limit that to what she heard and given this conference later that we're limiting the information that was going on that came out of that meeting.
From my standpoint, you know, doing this before, I want to be as transparent as possible. But the states attorney has to trial case. So they're very concerned with the level of information that comes out. So I have to strike a balance. So the balance is, trying to give as much information as we can without impacting her case as she has to go forward.
I had pretty close to 45, 50 plus employees on this case. They -- I've pulled them off a homicide cases. I'm pulled them off of robbery cases. And we put this task force together with my lab personnel. We brought out our training staff. And we put a lot of work into this case.
And my focus was not just -- and I don't have the luxury just to focus on what happened inside of that van -- the botching van. I had to answer questions of what started in that officers' day, whatever you're going (ph) those officers did. What were the gaps and have to fill in all of those blanks. So my 40 plus task force were focused on getting the entire complete story.
PEREZ: So you have 45, 50 employees, my understanding, 30 plus crime investigators who are focused on this case. And then to have them served by another office doing an independent investigations. From what I understand, they had four investigators doing this.
What is that like? What does that feel like? What does that feel for your employees?
BATTS: If they could with four what we do with 40, they're doing a very good in what they do. We looked at everything.
PEREZ: I know you want to talk a lot about how you're going to rebuild trust with this community. How do you plan to do that?
BATTS: It's clear the day that I stepped on ground here on Baltimore that there's a lack of trust within our community in the Police Department and certain parts of our community. So we've been trying to do that from day one by being transparent, being open. When we make mistakes to share with community, when we make mistakes... PEREZ: The Freddie K. Gray case then to you represents what -- an aberration, something that simply sets you back?
BATTS: No, I think we're going in the right direction is what I'm trying to say. By every metric that you measure Police Department on, we get a home run. And we're going in the right direction. There is a lack of trust within this community, period, bottom line. And that's going to take healing. That's going to take us acknowledging as a Police Department not just here in Baltimore but the law enforcement as a whole that we've been part of the problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PEREZ: Anderson, what you hear from the commissioner there is between the lines. He's talking about the thoroughness of his police investigation. And he's making a contrast with what many people say was a hasty decision by the state attorney to bring charges against these six officers. And he's drawing a contrast between those two cases, Anderson.
COOPER: Evan, wait. In your interview, sorry, are you saying that the state attorney only had four investigators on this case because she made a big deal about how from day one her office had been investigating to pull in resources. You're saying they only had four people working on it -- investigators?
PEREZ: Well, she had four investigators who were leading this case. She had a few other stuff but in comparison to what the police threw at this case, Anderson, he had, you know, 40, 50 people that were working on this from day one. What he was trying to say was that they had a very thorough case and throwing a contrast with what she had done.
COOPER: There's also now been a couple of interesting things, Evan, that have come out. First of all, two of the names in the -- that state's attorney put out I guess in the charging documents were incorrect. And they actually were...
[20:10:02] PEREZ: Right.
COOPER: ... the wrong person's names. I also understand now one of the officers is disputing in court saying that the knife that Freddie Gray -- that the arrest was illegal and saying that the knife that Freddie Gray was in fact was carrying was illegal and once it released so that they can show that.
PEREZ: Well, that's actually one of the things that you see differences between these two investigations. The state investigation and the one that Commissioner Batts was doing. According to Marilyn Mosby, the state attorney, when she spoke at the War Memorial across the street here, the knife that the -- that Freddie Gray was carrying was not illegal, according to her in the State of Maryland.
However, the Police Department says that the knife violated the city code. So what you see the officers now trying to do is draw distinction between the two cases. The two investigations are ongoing here. And that's just the beginning of what the state attorney is going to have to face in defending her case, Anderson.
COOPER: Evan, I appreciate the update and the i8nterview. A lot to talk about. Joining me now is Milwaukee County sheriff David Clarke, also CNN legal analyst, the former federal prosecutor Sunny Hostin who we should note is friends with the mayor of Baltimore, and CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
Sheriff Clarke, you hear now a police officer's contesting that the knife is in fact illegal. Two of the names were wrong in the charging documents. You said that the Baltimore states attorney, Marilyn Mosby offered these officers up as sacrificial lambs. Can you explain what you mean?
DAVID CLARKE, MILWAAUKEE COUNTY SHERIFF: Sir, first of all, when you rush a decision, you could see and I think this thing's going to unravel. You can see the problems that you can have. The billion (ph) legal scholar Ellen Tercha (ph) once said that Miss Mosby's decision was political. It was overcharged. It was rushed and it was done for mob control. And I concur.
Now, she has the righty to charge these individuals now. She's got to prove it beyond reasonable doubt. But, Anderson, when she at her news conference went down that political rabbit hole and started making claims by hearing the voices young people at your time no, justice no peace, those aren't legal terms. Those are political statements.
And once she went down that political rabbit hole, I said that these officers are political prisoners and I stand by that. I've investigated with a team of investigators that investigate over 400 homicides in a four year period. I've supervised and assisted at charging conferences. And I've never had a criminal complaint issue on a homicide case. And I'm talking about standard when not as one is complex as this within 24 hours.
And I don't care that she had some investigators parallel and along side. These things are a volumes of reports. Evidence has to be going over. She should have just taken her time before she made this decision. And she did not.
COOPER: Jeff Toobin, what about that?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, FMR. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, we'll see. I mean I -- my friend Sheriff Clarke makes a very good case against this prosecution. However, you know, Freddie Gray woke up healthy on April 12th and he was dead by noon and the only people that he was with were police officers. So the idea that he was -- that is a result of the crime makes a certain amount of sense whether she should have investigated longer and whether these thrives will stand up in court, we'll see.
And I think it's Important to say, you know, we will see. And then, she may turn out to be right.
COOPER: Sunny, what about that? I mean I know you've raised some concerns about the speed of this. Aren't regular people charged with crimes this fast all the time? SUNNY HOSTIN, FMR. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Not necessarily especially when you're talking about a complicated homicide case. And I have raised concerns about the haste and in terms of bringing the charges. I had concerns on the day that it was announced quite frankly because I did her say things like "I heard your calls for no justice, no peace."
Well, guess what? Prosecutors are not allowed to take the citizens demands into consideration. In fact, most of the time, we bring cases despite and in spite what the citizenry wants.
And so, I was concerned about some of the statements that she made. And I am a bit concerned about the fact that the coroners report was given to her merely 24 hours before she made, you know, filable charges because that is the lynch pin of this case -- that autopsy report. And I wouldn't think she would have the time to have independent experts review t5he coroners report.
But to Jeff's point, we're talking about a young man who was otherwise healthy who ended up dead with separate spine after being in police custody. So the fact that something criminal happened is probable but I just do have some concerns about the speed within she decided this charges.
COOPER: Sheriff, the fact that the states attorney only gave the police commissioner a 10 minutes heads up, what do you make of that. I mean how would you feel if that was the case.
CLARKE: Surely problematic. Like I said with my experience at charging conferences you see the prosecutor will work with you.
[20:15:01] And usually you're alongside the prosecutor, I don't mean the police commissioner but the investigators and I've been a part of that, I mean it was my job as the lieutenant of detective -- of the detective to keep my superiors informed, but 10 minutes seems a little unusual there.
And, you know, you don't get the do-over in a complicated case like this. When you make mistakes early on, you'll never get a chance to recover and this was a bad situation to begin with. That wasn't Ms. Mosby's fault but her job to slow it down and get it right. And I think she was like down and dirty, she was more of -- concerned about calling the masses and quieting down the angry mob than she was about doing this thing right, so that the right ending occur (ph).
Something happened to Freddie Gray but that doesn't necessarily mean -- and I don't know the facts of the case but that doesn't necessarily mean that the police officers had to do anything with it, or that there was criminal intent for charge of second-degree murder or manslaughter.
COOPER: Jeff...
TOOBIN: Well I actually think the lack of communication was a good thing, not a thing. Remember in Ferguson, everyone was so concern that a police -- that a prosecutor's investigation of the police, they we're too close together. They're we're -- your ordinarily (ph) teammates. Look, this was basically an adversarial process here where you have a prosecutor deciding whether the police officer should be charged.
I think a certain amount of distance and a certain amount of the prosecutor clearly being in charge was a good thing.
COOPER: But Jeff, you don't believe politics played a role -- the desire to bring calm to the city played a role in this?
TOOBIN: I don't know, I don't know. And I think, you know, we will learn that as the facts are unfolded. Look, it was -- I certainly thought it was very fast, I understand why people are criticizing. These early mistakes like the wrong names on the forms do suggest undue haste. But let's see if she can make her case in court, if she can she didn't go too fast.
COOPER: Jeff Toobin, Sheriff David Clarke, great to have you on, Sunny Hostin as well.
A quick reminder, make sure you set your DVR to watch 360 anytime you want.
Coming up, a police officer kills a man in his own hope, a man who hadn't committed any crime and who other officers say he has his hands up. Not only has the officer not been charged it took more than a year for his name to even come out. Was there a coverup? We investigate on that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:20:00]
COOPER: Whether it's in Baltimore, Ferguson or Staten Island there is a perception in many communities in this country that race is a factor in the way the police do their jobs. A new, New York Times, CBC News poll asked people about race, police and the use of deadly force. 37 percent of the white who are asked said police are more likely to use deadly against a black person while 79 percent of African-Americans said the same.
It's just a very small percentage of those poll said police we're more likely to use deadly force against white person, most of the rest said does not affect the use of deadly force. Now it's true that the nation has been focusing on a string of deaths of young black man killed by police. But right now, we want to tell you about a case in Virginia.
A white man killed in his own home by a police officer, nearly two years later that police officer still on the force still being paid and no charges have been filled. I fact, it took more than year for the department to even say who the officer was who pulled the trigger. Randi Kaye reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is how John Geer spent the last 45 minutes of his life, standing at his front door hands up talking with Fairfax Virginia Police. That's him in the white t-shirt. This picture is from a neighbor's cellphone taken just minutes before John Geer is shot dead.
JEFF STEWART, GEER'S BEST FRIEND: You have one officer standing here, he had his gun drawn, Officer Torres had his guns on and pretty much pointed center mass the whole time.
KAYE: Geer's friend of more than 25 years, Jeff Stewart was there, and remembers seeing Officer Adam Torres on the front lawn. In this photo you see his weapon raised, pointing directly at John Geer.
It was the middle of the afternoon August 2013, John Geer's girlfriend of 24 years have called police saying she was moving out and that Geer was throwing her belongings here on the front lawn. It was called in as a domestic dispute. Listen to the 911 call.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, does he have any weapons in the house?
MAURA HARRINGTON, GEER'S GIRLFRIEND: Shotguns, handguns. That's the kind of guns he has but they're in the case.
KAYE: It turns out John Geer does have one gun out of the case, a 357 but it's in a holster. He even shows it to Officer Rodney Barnes, a trained police negotiator also on the scene. That's Barnes in the blue vest, to the left of Officer Torres. Barnes will say later in taped interviews with investigator that Geer never threatened police or ever took his gun out of the holster.
(Off-Mike)
Banes talks calmly with Geer for nearly an hour, trying to convince him to come out of the house.
RODNEY BARNES, FAIRFAX VIRGINIA POLICE: He said, "I don't want anybody to get hurt." I said, "I don't want to get shot, I don't want anybody else to get shot."
KAYE: Geer, a self-employed father of two teenage girls refuses to come out unless Torres and the other armed officers back far away. Officer Torres still aiming his gun is making Geer nervous.
BARNES: He said, "Hey, can you -- can you not point that gun at me? Can you get Officer whatever to lower his gun?"
KAYE: A few times Geer asked permission to move.
BARNES: A couple of times he needed to scratch his nose. He would say, "Hey, I'm going to scratch my nose" and he would slowly take his hand and scratch his nose.
KAYE: But Officer Torres remembers it differently.
ADAM TORRES, FAIRFAX VIRGINIA POLICE: He brought both his hands down in a quick motion towards his waist, and I fired a shot right through the screen door and hit him.
KAYE: A single shot and John Geer goes down in his own home. Remember, he hadn't committed a crime and he wasn't holding a weapon. Jeff Stewart saw his friend get shoot.
STEWART: John was hit, lower left side on his rib cage. You know, I watch from up there, as soon as they shot he -- he pulled his hand down to here, he spun inside the house and pulled the door shut behind him.
KAYE: And you could see where his hands we're at the moment he was shot?
STEWART: Yes his hands we're above his shoulders.
KAYE: Just like Officer Barnes, the police negotiator remembers it.
BARNES: I heard a "pop" you know and, and he had just scratched his nose and put his hand back up there and it just happened so fast. And I'm like when he shot him I'm like, to myself, "who the fuck shot?"
KAYE: And there's more. Right after Officer Torres shot Geer he apologized for it and then blurted out that he had a fight with his wife just minutes before arriving on scene.
TORRES: For a split second, I just thought, whether it was just out of anger that this happened. But it -- it wasn't out of anger.
[20:25:02] KAYE: But Torres quickly backtracked and decided he did the right thing. Listen to what he told investigators.
TORRES: It was justified. I have no doubt about that at all.
KAYE: Justified, the other officers on the scene disagree. Listen to Officer Barnes.
BARNES: I'm not here to throw him under the bus or anything like that, but I didn't see what he saw.
KAYE: And another officer who was armed with a riffle at the scene later told investigators he didn't see any aggressive moves by Geer. In fact that officer said he never even took the safety off his riffle. And look at Officer David Neil to the right of Officer Torres in this photo, his gun is out but pointed at the ground while Officer Torres' weapon is aimed at Geer, his finger is on the trigger.
TORRES: Every once in a while I put my finger on the trigger just to -- in case I'm -- in case wanted -- just a few times I did it.
KAYE: Attorney Mike Lieberman who filled a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Geer's family says Torres violated department policy by having his finger on the trigger.
MICHAEL LIEBERMAN, GEER FAMILY ATTORNEY: It violates the universal cardinal rules of safety for anyone with a weapon but certainly police with weapon. You never put your finger on trigger unless you intend to pull it.
KAYE: The lawsuit list the officer who killed John Geer as John Doe 1, that's because for 16 months Fairfax County Police refused to tell the family and the public who pulled the trigger.
Do you think police are trying to sweep this whole case under the rug?
LIEBERMAN: Well for 16 months, there was no question in my mind there was stalling (ph) going on. They did not want the public or the family to know anything that was going on.
KAYE: Officer Torres' attorney declined to speak with us, so did Fairfax police. Though police did tell us Officer Adam Torres is still employed by the department assigned to administrative duties. The U.S. Department of Justice took over the case in January 2014.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So where does the case now stand?
KAYE: Well we know that John Geer's family settled in April with Fairfax County for $2.95 million. So that's the civil suit, that's over and done with. But it has been a really long and painful battle for this family. I mean he was shot back in June of 2013...
COOPER: Right.
KAYE: So it's now been almost two years. And what makes it even more painful Anderson is that, when John Geer was shot the police didn't call for the ambulance which was idling right outside his home. Nobody went inside to save him. Instead they called for an armored vehicle, a tank with a battering ram, to get inside.
Nobody went in to try and help him or check his condition. They felt maybe it was unsafe. So they waited for that instead of calling on the paramedics who are in that nearly ambulance.
COOPER: What did you learn about the officer involved in the shooting?
KAYE: Torres was 32-years-old, Adam Torres when the shooting happened in 2013. And we know that he is the subject of five internal affairs investigations, including one about this case and one about a case where he's accused of having a major meltdown in a courtroom and screaming at a prosecutor.
But, as we mentioned he's still on the job even through its administrative duty, he's still getting paid while the justice department tries to figure this out.
COOPER: All right Randi, appreciate it, thank you.
Well, just ahead in this hour, a new polling on what could be the biggest challenge Hillary Clinton faces in her bid for the White House. Plus, how she stacks up against the just expanded Republican field. Also tonight new details about the mysterious and sudden death of David Goldberg, husband of Facebook Executive Sheryl Sandberg.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:30:00]
[20:30:00]
COOPER: Well, in the last 48 hours the Republican presidential field has doubled. Today, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee said he will make a second run for the White House. His announcement comes a day after retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina declared their candidacies. So, does a bigger field necessarily mean a more competitive primary race? There is new polling on that tonight, and also on how the Republican hopeful stack up against Hillary Clinton. CNN's John King is here to walk us through it.
So John, a lot of movement in the Republican field in just the last couple of days.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Three new candidates, Anderson. We're up to six. Let's take a look at this graphic here. Now, this is not support for this candidate. 74 percent of Republicans do not support Marco Rubio today. The question NBC and Wall Street Journal ask you, could you support these candidates? And this essentially breaks down the top tier. Rubio, Bush, Scott Walker, Rand Paul. At 60 percent or higher, Rubio and Bush, the top of the pack right there, Mike Huckabee got in today. 52 percent of Republicans said they could support him, if he were the nominee. Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina got in yesterday. They are lower down. So, what does this tell you? It tells you, essentially, that we have a top tier that you might try to line. It's Cruz - Cruz, Paul Volcker, Bush, Rubio. Mike Huckabee is right there as well. And nationally this is the pulse of the Republican Party. A wide open race. There'll be a new Iowa poll out tomorrow, Anderson, and interesting to see the state of play in the first caucus stake.
COOPER: And how do they do against Hillary Clinton? Because no doubt that same poll - it talks about that.
KING: Well, she beats them all. She beats all the leading Republican. So, if you are a Democrat, you say great, right?
But these are blowouts. Look at these numbers. Clinton versus Jeb Bush. 49-43. Clinton versus Scott Volcker, a bigger lead, 10 points here, 50 to 40. Clinton versus Marco Rubio, the same as Jeb Bush, 49- 43. Here's the interesting one. Rand Paul runs closest among the leading Republican candidates, 47-44. Rand Paul tends to get more independents going his way right now. So, Hillary Clinton leads an - the one thing they are happy about on the Democratic side, Anderson, is she largely keeps together the Obama coalition, African-Americans, Latinos, women generally. Generally. But again, if you are a Republican, you say hey, she's the overwhelming front-runner, she's the only Democrat really serious right now and we're close so we're going to have a competitive campaign.
COOPER: And have her numbers taken a hit at all because of the news regarding donations to the Clinton charitable foundation?
KING: That is the glaring question. And a big question. In the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, it's happy as they are that they feed all the Republicans, I'm going to show you this number. In politics, this is the equivalent of a five alarm fire. 25 percent, one in four American voters right now say they think Hillary Clinton is honest and straightforward. 38 percent thought that a little over a year ago. So, only 25 percent of Americans view her as honest and trustworthy. They know in the Clinton campaign this is a big problem. This they need to fix. Now they have the time and the resources to do that. But hard to get elected president if one in four voters think you are honest.
COOPER: And I read they launched a new website to try to counter accusations against the foundation.
KING: They call it The Briefing, Anderson, and welcome to the world of modern campaigns and modern media. It's a website. The new book "Clinton Cash" just hitting book stands this week. This is Brian Fallon, the campaign's press secretary. If you go to the briefing right now, he says it is full of Republican smears, it is full of mistruths. This is a new way in politics and a smart way in politics. No. 1, it gives Democrats a place to go when they hear an attack on Hillary Clinton, they want their side of the story maybe, their talking points or their information, and they go here. No. 2, if you go on a search engine and look for information, yes, you'll get CNN.com and yes, you'll get Republican web sites, but now you'll also get the Hillary campaign perspective right away too. And if you scroll down this page a little further, it also says, Anderson, donate. It is a chance to - a little choir practice and raise a little money.
COOPER: John King, fascinating. Thank you.
And a quick programming note. At the top of the hour, in about 20 minutes from now, a CNN special report, "Murder at the Marathon." Takes an in-depth look at the Boston marathon bombing. Our Deborah Feyerick retraces the hours and days after the attack, how the killers slipped away, where they went and what we've learned now.
And up next, a tech CEO and the husband of FaceBook executive Sheryl Sandberg dies while they were on vacation in Mexico. Authorities say he fell off a treadmill and hit his head. What an autopsy shows when we continue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:40:40]
COOPER: A mysterious death in Mexico. David Goldberg, the husband of FaceBook executive Sheryl Sandberg, died of accidental blunt force trauma while on vacation with his family. Now, he apparently fell, hit his head while he was exercising on a treadmill. Mr. Goldberg was just 47 years old. He was successful, respected in his own right in Silicon Family, and a devoted husband and father to their two kids. Rosa Flores is in Mexico tonight with more on his untimely death.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID GOLDBERG: My closest adviser is my wife.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: FaceBook executive Sheryl Sandberg called him her best friend and the love of her life.
SHERYL SANDBERG, FACEBOOK: I have an awesome husband. We are at 50/50.
FLORES: But the life of her other half, Survey Monkey CEO David Goldberg, was cut short by what Mexican authorities say was a freak accident at the gym, resulting in severe head trauma. The family checked into the exclusive Via Palma Sola hotel near the Mexican resort town of Puerta Vallarta last Thursday, according to the state attorney general. A day later, authorities say Goldberg was exercising on a treadmill when he slipped, fell, and hit the back right side of his head, creating a 3-centimeter gash.
DR. ROGER HARTL, NEUROSURGEON: People can have fairly small external injuries, especially to the skull, and to the scalp, and that can bleed quite significantly. And it also indicates that there is some type of internal injury to the brain.
FLORES: Investigators say Goldberg went to the gym at about 4:00 p.m. His brother Robert told authorities that Goldberg normally worked out for two hours. When Goldberg didn't return from his workout, Robert went looking for him and found him on the floor in a pool of blood 2.5 hours later. His brother called for help, but by the time the Silicon Valley executive got to the hospital, it was too late. He was pronounced dead, according to the attorney general spokesperson.
HARTL: The timing is absolutely important, and studies have shown that repeatedly you have to get these patients to the hospital, to the well equipped and the right hospital as quickly as possible.
FLORES: Goldberg's sudden death has shocked many around the country, including President Obama who took to Facebook saying in part, "David Goldberg embodied the definition of a real leader, someone who was always looking for ways to empower others. We're heartbroken by him leaving us far too soon."
The woman known for leaning in, responding to President Obama responding on Facebook. "Thank you, President Barack Obama, for this beautiful tribute and for your friendship to our family. Dave Goldberg admired you for your leadership, passion, and your deep love of sports."
Rosa Flores, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: The state attorney general told Rosa this afternoon that an autopsy found no foul play, that it was deemed an accident, and that the family did not ask for further investigation. Dr. Roshini Raj of NYU Medical Center joins me now. And it is incredible when I read about this, it just seems so random, and then you actually look at the numbers. There are actually a lot of accidents on treadmills and it's been increasing. But can somebody fall with enough force that they end up just bleeding to death?
DR. ROSHINI RAJ, NYU: It is a very unfortunate combination of events, it seems, in this case. As you said, there are a lot of injuries due to treadmills, and tens of thousands of people go to the ER every year with these, but usually they are more minor injuries, they are sprains or leg injuries. If you just fall the wrong way at the wrong angle, you can severely impact your head, and we know the brain is very vascular, which means there are a lot of blood vessels there. And if you hit it the wrong way, you can have a lot of bleeding, and I think what happened here is he was unconscious, because he hit his head. He had a big deep cut, three centimeters long, and that bled. If he had not been unconscious, if he was bleeding, he could have gotten medical attention, he could have dealt with it.
COOPER: If there was someone else in the gym, they could have seen it.
RAJ: But to bleed unattended for potentially two or three hours could be enough for him to lose a massive amount of blood.
COOPER: And authorities said the death was caused by severe head trauma and hypovolemic shock, what does that mean.
RAJ: Hypovolemic shock means you don't have enough fluid in your blood vessels for your heart to pump blood to the rest of your organs. So usually when you lose about a fifth of your total blood volume, you can go into what's called hypovolemic shock.
COOPER: So because you've lost so much blood, your heart can no longer keep pumping.
RAJ: Exactly, and then your organs start to die off, because they're not getting the blood and oxygen they need.
COOPER: Is it possible somebody could collapse from some other reason and then hit their head? Or I guess we don't know what caused it.
[20:45:00]
RAJ: It is very possible. You could have an arrhythmia or a heart attack, but what we're hearing is, they are calling it an accident, which suggests that after the autopsy, they did not find evidence of a heart disease or a stroke or something else that happened prior to the fall.
COOPER: One of the things that I was reading is that because sort of treadmills are becoming more and more sophisticated, with more electronics, more things to divert one's attention, actually it has led to an increase in accidents because people are multi-tasking when they're on the treadmill, or they are watching television and not paying attention.
RAJ: Exactly, and this is a reminder, and of course we won't tell people not to go on a treadmill, and exercise is good, and that's what makes it even more tragic. He was actually exercising while on vacation, which a lot of us don't even do, but you are right, the treadmills these days are very complicated and sophisticated. If you are using a new machine and you don't understand the different levers and knobs, ask for help. And make sure the children don't have access to these if you have them in your home.
COOPER: A lot of the emergency room statistics that I was looking at actually involved children who have wandered onto the treadmill.
RAJ: Exactly. Pediatric ER visits for that exact reason. You want to make sure that children have no access to that type of machine, but even for adults, we have to be mindful if we are listening to music, we're changing something. You have to remember, you are on a machine that is moving and is going to keep moving.
COOPER: And moving quite fast.
RAJ: Exactly. And you could hit your head the wrong way.
COOPER: It's awful. Thank you, doctor. Thank you for being with us.
An incredible story about a brave mom. Not even gunshot wounds could stop her from protecting her two young kids after a gunman opened fire on a pedestrian bridge in Wisconsin. You are going to hear how they managed to escape alive when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Tonight a Wisconsin mom is being hailed as a hero. Erin Stafford (ph), her husband and their three children were riding their bikes and enjoying time together when the unthinkable happened, a gunman opened fire. She was shot three times, yet somehow managed to save two of her children and possibly countless others. That she was able to think so clearly and clearly in a moment of sheer terror while seriously wounded is remarkable. Gary Tuchman has her story tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Three small children, two sisters, a brother and their parents spending a warm spring day outdoors crossing a pedestrian bridge in the town of Nashua (ph), Wisconsin, when a gunman starts randomly firing. He killed the husband, Jonathan Stoffel (ph), and the oldest daughter, 11-year-old Olivia. The wife Erin is hit by three bullets, seriously hurt. But somehow she had the strength to do something amazing and heroic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Despite being shot multiple times, Ms. Staffel was able to get herself and two additional children off the bridge, instructing her young son to go run for assistance.
TUCHMAN: That they did. 5-year-old daughter Sala (ph) and 7-year-old son Ezra were not hurt. Another innocent bystander, though, was shot and killed. However, authorities say the death toll could have been much higher.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is an amazing story of heroism on her part, and certainly of her children because notification of people allowed police to be engaged and to get on the scene very quickly.
TUCHMAN: Police say gunman Sergio Daniel Valenza del Toro (ph) opened fire after an argument with his ex fiancee. He turned the gun on himself, taking his own life. This amateur video shows his stretcher being taken away, and an image in the background is of his ex-fiancee, who collapsed after finding out what happened, according to witnesses. Although Erin Staffel is in the hospital in serious condition, the early stages of a recovery are going well. Her friends say she is a remarkable woman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She always had a smile on her face and is always helping her kids and other kids. And she's just an amazing mom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can never underestimate the power of a mother to protect her children.
TUCHMAN: Or the power of strangers to help a hero. To assist paying for her medical expenses, her friends started a Gofundme page, and after just over a day, it has raised over $100,000.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: We've linked the Gofundme pages for the victims on our web site, on 360.com. Just ahead, something to make you smile at the end of a long day. The ridiculist is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:56:40]
COOPER: Time now for the ridiculist, and tonight we're adding the bear who messed with Carl. Who's Carl, you may ask? Carl is an ex- Marine, occasional barroom brawler, and not afraid of a little close combat, animal style.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man or beast that I run from ain't been born, and his momma's already dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Oh, yeah, we're just getting started with Carl. By the way, if what Carl said sounded familiar, it's because that is how Wolf Blitzer begins "The Situation Room."
Anyway, before we hear more from Carl, let's have our affiliate reporter lay out the basics of what recently happened at Carl's California home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The other week, Lacy the dog he loves like a daughter, started whimpering outside. Carl ran out and there it was. A bear who had no idea what world it just stepped into. Carl's world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Can we get some popcorn because I think I'll need some popcorn.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I ain't running from nothing. I never have in my whole life and I ain't going to start now, and you're not going to sacrifice my babies for some damn bear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: First of all, this is like a movie. I cannot believe this. Second of all, I would like to announce that Carl is CNN's newest homeland security adviser.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I raised both hands in the air and I cussed at him, yeah, get out you (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: All right. I think Carl may have missed his calling as a life coach. I'm going to need to hear that again. Let's replay that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, get out you (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: All right, if that is not my new ring tone, I don't know what is. So just to recap, where we are, Carl has rushed out of the house and is now hurling obscenities at the bear. Your move, bear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He looked at me like go f yourself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And what happened next, you ask? I certainly did. I don't even know how to describe what happened next. Get some popcorn.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened next can only be described as insane. Carl landed a whirling haymaker. Punching the bear right in the face. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: A whirling haymaker. OK, for those of you following along at home, the bear is now Joe Frazier, Carl is Muhammad Ali, and Carl's porch is basically Madison Square Garden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He come up like this and he turned, boom, I hit him hard. Damn near corkscrewed his head.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: OK, before you start tweeting me, I don't necessarily support or recommend punching bears in their heads. Not at all. I want to be very clear on that. This is not something I'm calling for. Also, you might be a little skeptical that things happened exactly how Carl said they did; fortunately the local news interviewed a witness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He says a bear was a bit shorter than Carl, but still a formidable opponent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Wait a minute. The bear was a bit shorter than Carl? Are we sure the animal Carl attacked was actually a bear? Or did he maybe just throw a punch at pudgy labrador retriever in the middle of a yawn? That would be awful. This whole thing is bizarre. Whatever it was, Carl's message was received loud and clear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy is a jerk, but he ain't been back since he got smacked by Carl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Wise words spoken about Carl by Carl. As for the bear who messed with Carl? He's gone into hibernation apparently on the Ridiculist. We wish it nothing but the best.
That does it for us. We'll see you again 11:00 p.m. Eastern for another edition of "360." The CNN special report "Murder at the Marathon" starts right now.
